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How to share iCloud Drive folders

2019 August 13

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Many popular cloud-storage services support folder sharing, from Microsoft’s OneDrive service to Google Drive, Dropbox and beyond. If you use Apple devices, you can share iCloud folders with others — and iDownloadBlog shows you how.

About sharing iCloud folders

With iCloud Drive, you can securely store your files in iCloud and access them from an iPhone or iPad using the Files app or via your Mac, through the Finder. Sharing iCloud folders with other people makes everything from collaborating on complex projects to sharing assets with a client to gathering vacations photos from family easier than it was before iOS 13 came along.

Anyone with access to a shared folder will see it in iCloud Drive and will always have the ability to access the latest version. This handy productivity boost was first mentioned by Craig Federighi, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, during the June 3 keynote talk held at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2019.

The ability to share iCloud folders requires an iPhone or iPod touch with iOS 13, an iPad with iPadOS or a Mac computer with the macOS Catalina 10.15 software or newer. Before those software updates were available, you could only share iCloud files, not whole folders. This feature is currently unavailable through the web interface at iCloud.com.

Follow along with iDownloadBlog as we explain how to share iCloud folders.

How to share iCloud folders

You can share an iCloud folder with others using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac.

iPhone and iPad

To share iCloud folders with others using the File app for iPhone and iPad, do this:

1) Open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad with iOS 13+.

2) Choose iCloud Drive from the list of sources.

3) Tap and hold a desired folder in your iCloud Drive, then choose Share from the popup menu.

4) Select how you’d like to send a share link, then pick a contact with whom you’ll be sharing this folder and fill out empty files like their email address, phone number and so forth.

After your share invite has been sent via Messages, Mail or another service, the recipient will need to click an embedded link from which they can access the shared folder. If you need to share with more people at some point, follow steps 1 to 2 above, then choose the Select option to cherry-pick multiple folders to share with one or more people at once.

To stop sharing with one specific person, select this person and choose Remove Access. To cut off access to this folder for everyone it’s shared with, choose Stop Sharing.

Editing permissions of shared iCloud folders in iOS

You can easily adjust share permissions by following the steps below:

1) Open the Files app on your iPhone or iPad with iOS 13+.

2) Select iCloud Drive from the list of sources.

3) Tap and hold a desired folder in your iCloud Drive, then choose Share from the popup menu.

4) Scroll down to reveal other actions, then choose Add People.

5) Tap Share Options at the bottom of the Add People screen.

6) Choose who can access this folder:

Only people you invite: People who have received your share invite will be able to access this folder. Other people that may know your share link (for example, maybe some of the people you’re sharing this folder with has forwarded them your invite link) cannot access this folder.

Anyone with the link: Anyone with the link can access this iCloud Drive folder, whether they were originally invited or not. Use this option with caution, especially if you’re sharing a folder with co-workers to collaborate on a sensitive project.

If you’d like to change sharing permission for one person only, tap them on the Add People screen, then select from the options available for who can access and general file permissions.

7) Choose access permissions for this folder:

Can make changes: The recipient is allowed to perform all file operations the folder’s files, including uploading new items to the shared folder, deleting individual files, updating an existing file and more.,